What is Very Fine Day?

Or "WTF is an interview newsletter?"

Hello, and welcome to Very Fine Day.

Very Fine Day is an interview newsletter.

I am hoping that VFD will be more rewarding than traditional blogging. For you and for me.

Not that I hate writing, or blogging. Just seems like everyone is doing it now (haven’t they always), and many of them are doing it better than me.

If you’ll humour me, I’d like to set some ground rules of what you can expect from Very Fine Day.

Why an “interview newsletter”?

Alright, I’ll bite.

I have been thinking for some time about the current swell of newsletter interest in modern media. Yes, we are in something of a boom. No, it’s not particularly new. Media is cyclical.

It’s cool to see – creators taking control of their creation and all that – but I can only see it heading one way in the next three years: back to publications. We’re already watching the grouping take place, and I believe that we will soon have more groups of newsletter creators coming together to create mastheads of their own. Good for them, I mean. I’m not hating on it. You do you.

I also believe that whatever idea of “objective” reporting we once had is now absolutely shattered. Whether you blame the internet, Trumpism, populism, or the impact social media has had on community trust, there’s no going back. The left will read the left, and the right will read the right.

I believe that the only way to show true, undisputed, objective reporting and information is by keeping it literal. And that’s what Very Fine Day will be. Whether I’m talking to media execs, politicians, musicians, or reporters, Very Fine Day will only ever publish verbatim material. That means for the time being, I’m writing an interview newsletter. And all the ugly bits will be in there, too.

Here’s what it will look like.

Very Fine Day will be interviews with interesting people. Those interviews will be conducted by me (obviously) and transcribed and published verbatim. No crazy editing, no cuts to make myself look like less of a dickhead (the potential of me looking like an absolute fool in many of these interviews is not lost on me. I relish it). OK, I may remove a few “likes,” “ums,” and bizarre cant-find-what-I-was-saying mumbling here and there – but I promise that’s for the reader’s benefit.

I am hoping the end result is something close to a stream of consciousness interview. It gives people the opportunity to engage with a format they already enjoy (podcasts) with a bit more of an opportunity to refresh, come back to, and take your time.

No one will be able to dispute the objectivity of what I create, because I’m not creating angles. What you see is what was said. And if all truly great ideas are simple, I am hoping I have gotten it right.

Note: Substack and most email inboxes also have a “maximum size”. If an episode ever goes over this point, I’ll edit sparingly, mostly cutting from my own words, working to keep as much of the guest’s quotes as possible.

Very Fine Day will be released in seasons.

Season 1 will begin in February 2021.

It will be ten interviews with ten people, dispersed over ten weeks.

This means I won’t be emailing you every week of the year. You shouldn’t expect that, and, honestly, I don’t think it’s a great way forward for most newsletters.

After ten weeks with ten (I am hoping) very interesting people, the season will wrap.

Then you’ll have to wait another 2-3 months for me to conduct another Season.

I’m excited about the possibilities here: themed seasons, snapshots of time, Saved moments in a bubble that exist strongly by themselves. There’s more, but I like to keep some things to myself.

What do I get if I become a paid supporter of VFD?

If this is something you’re interested in - first of all: thank you so much.

Secondly, you can find a good brief on what I plan to make Very Fine Day (with funding) here.

Can I be on Very Fine Day?

Absolutely. I’m open to offers. It certainly makes my job easier. I have some people in mind already, and others who I have already spoken to. It was their excitement with the project that lead me to do it in the first place. I am very much looking forward to January 2021.

If you would like to be a part of Very Fine Day, or want to nominate someone you think fits beautifully, please do let me know. I want this to be diverse, and good, and real. But I am very much aware that my own scope is not as wide as it could be.

With that, I’m off to find some interviews.

Thanks, and have a very fine day indeed.